Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The recent history of psychology in South Africa has seen a shift amongst clinical/counselling psychologists towards a distinct practice modality. The overarching aim of this study is to explore the shift amongst clinical/counselling psychologists towards the consulting psychology modality, and to investigate the implications of this shift for the training of psychologists in South Africa. The trend towards consulting psychology is investigated through an analysis of the described experiences and perceptions of registered clinical/counselling psychologists working in consulting roles; educators involved in the training of psychologists; and consumers of the services of consulting psychologists. Juxtaposition of the competencies required for success as a consulting psychologist with the competencies acquired in current clinical/counselling training programmes has implications for a potential reconceptualisation of training approaches in the light of this shift. A grounded theory approach is employed to access the perceptions of those most intimately involved in the field without manipulating these through the lens of a pre-defined hypothesis. The perceptions, as accessed via interviews and focus groups, of 9 consulting clinical/counselling psychologists, 10 educators, and 8 consumers form a triangulated depiction of the shift to this practice modality, the competencies it requires, and the efficacy of current clinical/counselling training programmes in equipping psychologists for a consulting role. Analysis of these inputs indicates that clinical/counselling psychologists lack certain competencies vital to successful consulting. They do, however, possess many of the core-competencies required. Hence, while the training of psychologists may require review in order to meet the changing needs of both providers and consumers of consulting psychology services in South Africa, many of the facets of current clinical/counselling programmes are indispensable.

Graduate programs in Industrial/Organizational Psychology vary throughout the country with regard to curriculum design and content, raising the issue of preparation and its relationship to preparedness on the job. It was hypothesized that: (1) students with a greater amount of prior field experience would perceive themselves to be better prepared for the workplace than those with a lesser amount of such experience; (2) employers would perceive students who had received a greater amount of prior field experience as better preared than those with a lesser amount of such experience; and (3) students with previous work experience or job training in the field, whether prior to or concurrent with graduate training, would perceive themselves better prepared than those with either practicum experience alone or with no applied experience in the field at all. Subjects were graduates of terminal master's programs in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and the first employers of these graduates. Dependent varialbes were graduate self-perceptions of preparedness on the job and employer perceptions of employee preparedness on the job. Data were analyzed using chi-squre statistics. Results indicated that no significant difference existed among graduates or among employers in their reported perceptios of perparedness in the workplace.

This study focused on a topic at the intersection of two contexts, namely curriculum responsiveness and industrial/organisational psychology (IOP). The rationale for this study is based on two considerations. Firstly, a review of the IOP curricula offered at ten prominent South African universities revealed little overlap. This suggests that academic departments are not guided by shared principles when they implement decisions about the content or sequencing of curriculum content. Secondly, the Department of Education urges academics to design curricula that are relevant and responsive to contemporary conditions. These two considerations motivated the investigation of the following research question: What key performance areas (KPAs) do employers specify when they advertise positions suitable for IOP graduates? The investigation had two aims, namely (a) to systematically analyse the KPAs specified in job advertisements and (b) to compile KPA templates that may be used by IOP departments who wish to revise or transform their curricula. The research design of this study has five characteristics, namely that it is: (a) qualitative, (b) naturalistic, (c), descriptive, (d) applied, and (e) strategic. The study employed a purposive sampling strategy that involved the collection of documentary data (job advertisements aimed at recruiting IOP graduates) over a 52-week period (N=1115). The data was content analysed by means of a six-step documentary analysis method. Specific strategies were employed to enhance the validity of the findings. These strategies focused on credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Similarly, the ethical standing of the investigation was promoted by addressing four considerations, namely autonomy and respect for dignity, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice. The data analysis procedure produced comprehensive and detailed qualitative descriptions of (a) 21 occupational categories, (b) 4070 KPA themes and (c) 84 KPA clusters. In addition, the number of occupational categories, KPA themes and KPA clusters were recorded and interpreted. In addition, the data analysis procedure produced comprehensive KPA templates that IOP departments may find useful. The templates reflect the KPAs specified by advertisements aimed at recruiting IOP graduates for a range of occupational categories and were designed to be used as benchmarks against which the economic responsiveness of curricula can be compared.